BRPI0705792B1 - OIL CONTAINER BARRIER FENCE INSTALLATION METHOD PRESENTING A SPIRAL SETUP - Google Patents

Abstract

Enclosure installation method for oil containment barrier featuring a spiral configuration. The present invention relates to a siege installation method for containing pollution in aquatic environments such as rivers, lakes, lagoons, bays or the ocean, more specifically for pollution caused by oil leakage. The present invention comprises a plurality of barrier sections which form an enclosure having a spiral configuration allowing the passage of service or support vessels as well as the normal operation of the platform or offshore installation while containing the immediate release of supernatant oil.

Description

(54) Title: FENCE INSTALLATION METHOD FOR OIL CONTAINER BARRIER PRESENTING A SPIRAL CONFIGURATION (51) lnt.CI .: E02B 15/08; E02B 15/06; E02B 15/04 (52) CPC: E02B 15/0857, E02B 15/06, E02B 15/04 (73) Owner (s): OCEANPACT SERVIÇOS MARÍTIMOS S.A.

(72) Inventor (s): FLAVIO NOGUEIRA PINHEIRO DE ANDRADE

1/8 "FENCE INSTALLATION METHOD FOR OIL CONTAINER BARRIER PRESENTING A SPIRAL CONFIGURATION".

[1] The present invention relates to a method of installing a siege for a barrier, which floats on water, used to contain the oil caused by leakage and prevent its spreading during the operations of a drilling, production, vessel, Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO), Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO), monobuoy, shuttle tanker, or any other installation in the open sea for 24 hours / day and 7 days / week. This enclosure has a spiral configuration, thus, the traffic of service or support vessels, as well as the normal operation of the platform or offshore installation are not impaired.

[2] The number of accidents and the volume of oil spilled has decreased progressively over the past few years. The reduction of accidents is associated with greater control and care in operations involving the exploration, transport and storage of oil, which reflects an increase in the level of environmental responsibility. However, the risk of leakage with contamination of coastal ecosystems remains. It must be understood that the extent of the environmental damage caused by this occurrence, is not always proportional only to the volume leaked, but also depends on the cause of the incident, the size of the volume released, the type of product involved, its respective toxicity, the magnitude of affected areas and ecological sensitivity.

[3] Thus, initial actions are necessary in order to know the scenario involved in the accident to define the combat strategies and dimension the necessary resources for an effective response, information obtained through a preliminary assessment. The combat actions themselves permeate the containment and removal of the product from the sea and the cleaning of coastal environments affected by appropriate techniques.

[4] Containment of oil and subsequent removal requires the use of different types of booms and different removal equipment. THE

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2/8 capacity to respond to spills permeates factors such as speed and efficiency of the activation of the teams; quantity, availability and applicability of combat equipment; quantity and availability of qualified personnel for work and meteorological and oceanographic conditions at the time of the accident. The quick containment and removal of spilled oil is vital to avoid contamination from other areas.

[5] Oil containment is usually performed using barriers or containment enclosures that concentrate the oil for later collection. There are several types and models of barriers, manufactured from different types of material. The choice of barrier type is associated with factors such as accidental scenario, type of oil, environmental conditions, among others. There are several ways to configure barriers at sea, such as the so-called “J”, “U” or “V” configurations. The choice of one or the other procedure is associated with the availability of resources and meteorological and oceanographic conditions. In addition to the use for oil containment, barriers can also be useful to deflect stains and protect places. In the first case, the stains are diverted to places that are less vulnerable or more favorable to the application of removal techniques. In the second case, the barriers are placed in strategic locations in order to prevent stains from spreading and reaching areas of ecological or socio-economic interest.

[6] Most of the time, oil containment is worked together with product removal actions. For that, a series of equipment or materials can be used as skimmers, pick-up barges, oleophilic ropes, vacuum trucks, granulated absorbents, among many others. The applicability of each of them is associated with factors such as type of oil; stroke extension; affected places; accesses and meteorological and oceanographic conditions.

[7] A barrier variation is described in WO04035937A1. This document describes a containment barrier for the purpose of containing oil spills and / or similar modes of pollution in seas, rivers or aquatic surfaces, comprising an elongated body consisting of an element that has buoyancy in relation to the surrounding environment, in addition to a freeboard and a skirt

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3/8 suspension. The containment barrier is usually towed or anchored in a way that basically assumes a “U” shape, having lateral arms that delimit a frontal opening, and that extend from a rear area or apex. The free ends of the boom's arms are towed or anchored, so that the suspension skirt positioned at the apex collects or isolates spilled oil and / or other types of water surface pollution.

[8] US patent 3,803,848 discloses a containment barrier arrangement formed by joining several arches to form a wall of sinusoidal structure. Two sinusoidal walls can be joined by one end to form a V-shaped structure, and when more than two sinusoidal walls are joined, a polygon containing oil spilled on the water surface is formed. This wall is preferably formed by the combination of wood and floating plastic and consists of the union of arches joined in alternating directions (the odd arcs being arranged in one direction and the even ones in the opposite direction), regardless of the desired size of the barrier. The junction of two walls or the vertices of the polygon is connected to conventional anchors in order to keep this compartment in a substantially fixed position.

[9] US patent 4,976,855 describes an oil collector for its removal from the water surface comprising at least 2 containment barriers arranged in a “V” shape in front of a vessel. The containment barriers are screw-shaped, so that their rotation displaces the water and oil surface in the direction of a collecting container contained in the vessel.

[10] Russian patent No. RU2117095C1 refers to a containment barrier that collects and maintains oil and petroleum products on the surface of streams and aquatic basins, the contamination of which is due to the disassembly of the pipeline of oil or oil products and also, due to leaking tanks. The containment barrier also comprises a floating body that is made of waterproof and airtight material and a ballast net.

[11] Document WO83 / 00710, on the other hand, reveals a device that forms a barrier to protect water from oil spills. This device

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4/8 comprises a tubular body, divided into two chambers by a longitudinal wall. Its lower longitudinal chamber is filled with water while the upper one is filled with air. The strings are tied in loops. The rigidity of the device is essentially influenced by the pressure prevalent in one of the two chambers.

[12] The disadvantages of such barriers or devices mentioned above are due to the fact that they are launched or activated only after the oil spill has occurred, which causes a delay in the containment operations, thus allowing an initial spread of the thus making it more difficult to collect the oil.

[13] Therefore, there is a need for usual strategies for containment and collection of spilled oil that meet the needs of environmental protection between the occurrence of the spill and the combat measures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [14] An objective of the present invention is to provide a time, cost, simple and environmentally perfect method of enclosing the spilled oil.

[15] The above objective and other objectives are surprisingly achieved by what follows. The present invention provides an enclosure installation method for oil containment whose enclosure has a fixed and spiral configuration.

[16] The present invention also provides a new method of enclosure installation that allows the free movement of service and support vessels that act in conjunction with the platform or the offshore installation.

[17] The enclosure installation method offers the following advantages over conventional methods. The enclosure is pre-installed around the platform, ship or offshore installation regardless of whether or not oil is leaking. Thus, in any case of leakage the enclosure will already be acting in the containment, avoiding the spreading of the oil and allowing its quick removal through conventional methods known to those skilled in the art, such as, for example, skimmers, pumps, hoses and temporary storage. The spiral configuration allows for

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5/8 sufficient opening for safe navigation and prevents oil from escaping. In addition, the configuration allows for an easy and quick evacuation and escape operation in an emergency. The spiral configuration can be applied to any type of barrier, which can be made of any material that meets the needs of buoyancy (volume / weight ratio) and tensile strength, and can be installed anywhere where there is variation in the direction of the marine current.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [18] The characteristics of the method of installing a fence for a containment barrier for polluted water, the object of the present invention, will be better understood from the detailed description below, which is done purely for the purpose of exemplification, and associated with the following drawings, which are part of this report:

[19] Figure 1 illustrates a top view of the present invention.

[20] Figure 2 illustrates a detailed view of the direct anchorage.

[21] Figure 3 illustrates a detailed view of the anchoring with the aid of floats.

[22] Figure 4 illustrates a detailed view of the internal / external double anchorage to the enclosure.

[23] Figure 5 shows an enlarged view of the connection means shown in figure 4.

DETAILED STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION [24] The method of installing a fence for a boom, object of the present invention, will be described here with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[25] The present invention describes a method of installing a barrier to contain pollution in aquatic environments, such as rivers, lakes, ponds, bays or oceans, more specifically for pollution caused by leakage of immiscible liquids lighter than water, for example. example, oil.

[26] This method of installing the enclosure takes into account the following steps: dimensioning, installation and uninstallation, and maintenance.

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6/8 [27] To estimate the dimensioning of the enclosure, the opening of the enclosure for entry and exit of vessels and / or its length should be considered as a parameter. In particular, the opening of the enclosure for the entry and exit of vessels should be at least equal to ten times the mouth of the largest vessel that will travel or twice its length. More particularly, the distance between the platform or the offshore installation and the barrier should be at least five times the length of the largest vessel that will operate within the enclosure at least 180 ° from the entry opening.

[28] In addition, the region's meteo-oceanographic conditions are considered for the installation period. The resultant of the forces exerted by the current, winds and waves must be supported by the siege.

[29] The stage of installation of the siege is carried out through the use of support vessels suitable for launching barriers and boats for handling and connecting the various barrier sections at sea. The planning for the uninstallation of said siege must be done in advance and will use the same structure used for its installation.

[30] It should be understood that there is a need for prior planning for the maintenance of individual sections of the enclosure by replacing it with a reserve section. The design of the number of barrier sections and the number of reserve barrier sections should consider the characteristics of the enclosure and the anchorage.

[31] In addition, the anchoring system should be such that it can “hold” the enclosure in place, without generating shocks or cyclical forces that could destroy it.

[32] Thus, the siege should be anchored to the seabed so that its position and function are maintained regardless of the current direction. Anchoring can be done in several known ways, but for offshore installations, for example, with current conditions with more than one node and waves over 1.5 m, a special anchoring scheme is necessary in order to minimize efforts in the siege and guarantee its quality.

[33] Figure 1 illustrates said enclosure that comprises a plurality of barrier sections (1) that are interconnected to each other, through their points of contact.

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7/8 connection (5), to form a fence whose extension is sufficient to surround the desired area.

[34] In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, as shown in figure 2, the sections of the barriers (1), which can have any length, particularly between 25 and 100 m per section, are connected to each other. At each desired length, the barrier sections (1) are directly connected via connecting means (6), such as polypropylene, nylon, steel, ties or chains, to an anchor or poit (3) (that is, block of iron, concrete or any other heavy material) installed on the seabed.

[35] Figure 3 shows a boom section (1) that forms part of the enclosure of the present invention. Thus, in a second alternative embodiment of the present invention, anchoring is performed with the aid of floats (4), such as buoys. The sections of the barriers (1) are interconnected to each other and at each defined spacing, that is, connection point (5) a float (4) is connected. This spacing (5) can be of any size, with spacing of 25, 50, 100 or 200 m being typically used. Said float (4) is connected to anchors or poitas (3), located on the seabed, through connection means (6), such as cables. Said connection means (6) can be polypropylene, nylon, steel, chains or chains. Preferably, each float (4) is connected to four anchors or poitas (3) located on the seabed.

[36] It was observed that according to the conditions of the sea and currents, the forces exerted on the poita-buoy system can reach a few tens of tons depending on the installation of the said system. Studies carried out diagnosed that the efforts suffered by the buoy-poit anchorage set can reach more than 10 t when barriers with 1.3 m of total height and 100 m spacing between buoys with currents of less than 1 node are used. In addition, the harmonic regime of the system's oscillation leads to an effort so that there is a relative movement between the barriers and the buoys, generating very high forces in the connection between them and thus damaging the barriers in a short time. In addition, the forces in the poita-buoy system have a marked oscillatory pattern.

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8/8 [37] In order to minimize the forces exerted on the said system, a new anchoring system was developed that takes into account the oscillation suffered by the barrier and the buoy, as can be seen in figure 3, so that peak voltages in connections are avoided.

[38] Figures 4 and 5 illustrate an even more preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which anchoring is carried out by forming a belt of floats. Said barrier sections (1) are connected directly to each other. The floats (4 ', 4 ”) are connected to the connection points (5), located between said barrier sections (1), through connection means (7), such as polypropylene, nylon, steel, ties or horizontal horizontal chains. Each float (4 ', 4 ”) is anchored by two anchors or poets (3) located on the bottom of the sea. In this way, the first float (4 ') "holds" the enclosure so that it does not open resulting in its distance from the platform or installation (2) that you want to surround, and the second float (4 ") that" holds " said enclosure so that it does not close resulting in its approach to the platform. Thus, we will have a belt of buoys anchored inside said enclosure and another belt anchored outside said enclosure.

[39] In this way, the transfer of vertical oscillations, caused by waves, between the float system and the barrier system is practically null, thus preventing an accelerated wear of the connection and allowing a more effective behavior of the barriers that float freely accompanying sea waves without any vertical resistance, preventing oil from escaping.

[40] As an example, these configurative modalities can also be applied in waterway supply procedures. Preferably, the internal / external double anchoring method is used, that is, with the formation of a buoy belt, in offshore marine environments.

[41] It should be understood that although the invention has been described in detail and with reference to its specific modalities, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various changes and alterations can be made to the claimed invention without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

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1/2

Claims (15)

1. Installation method for oil containment barrier, in which the barrier is in a fixed position, and has a spiral configuration characterized by the fact that the enclosure comprises a plurality of barrier sections (1), which floats over water, which are connected to each other, through their connection points (5), forming a enclosure, the length of which is sufficient to surround the desired area; whose connection points each comprise one or more floats or buoys (4), and in which at least part of the connection points (5) are attached to at least two anchors (3) on the seabed, at least one anchor located within the containment area defined by the contamination barrier sections, and at least one anchor located outside the containment area defined by the contamination barrier sections, and in which the barrier has a spiral configuration with an opening for entry and exit of vessels. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said float (4) is connected by means of connection (6) to said anchors or poets (3). Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each float (4 ', 4 ") is connected to the anchor or poit (3) by two connection means (6). Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the connection means (6, 7) consist of cables made of polypropylene, nylon, steel, ties or chains. 5. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that the anchors or poitas (3) are formed by an iron block, concrete or any other heavy material. Method according to either of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the floats are buoys. 7. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that said enclosure presents the opening of the enclosure for the entry and exit of vessels at least equal to ten times the mouth of the largest vessel that will travel. Petition 870170085068, dated 11/06/2017, p. 16/18 2/2 8. Method according to claim 7, characterized by the fact that said opening of the enclosure for the entry and exit of vessels is at least twice the length of the largest vessel that will travel. 9. Method according to claim 8, characterized in that the distance between the platform or offshore installation and the barrier is at least five times the length of the largest vessel that will operate within said enclosure at least 180 ° from of said entry opening. 10. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that it is used to contain pollution in aquatic environments. 11. Method according to claim 10, characterized in that the aquatic environments are rivers, lakes, lagoons, bays or oceans. 12. Method according to claim 10, characterized in that the pollution is caused by leakage of immiscible liquids lighter than water, particularly oil. 13. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that it is preferably used in marine environments. 14. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized by the fact that it can be applied in waterway supply procedures. 15. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that said spiral configuration is used during the operations of a drilling, production, vessel, Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO), Floating platform Storage and Offloading (FSO), monobuoy, shuttle tanker, or any other installation in the open sea. Petition 870170085068, dated 11/06/2017, p. 17/18